Barbed sutures, which are generally made of the same materials as conventional sutures, offer several advantages for closing wounds compared with conventional sutures. A barbed suture includes an elongated body that has one or more spaced barbs, which project from the surface of the suture body along the body length. The barbs are arranged to allow passage of the barbed suture in one direction through tissue but resist movement of the barbed suture in the opposite direction. Thus, one advantage of barbed sutures has been the provision of a non-slip attribute.
Barbed sutures are known for use in cosmetic, laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. Using barbed sutures enables the placement of tension in tissue with less slippage of the suture in the wound. The number of suture barbs may be influenced by the size of the wound and the strength required to hold the wound closed. Like a conventional suture, a barbed suture may be inserted into tissue using a surgical needle.
Depending on the specific application, wound, and length of time needed for wound healing, there is an optimal time wherein a polymer utilized to fabricate a degradable suture has completely degraded, that is, whereupon it has lost all of its mass to the surrounding tissue. In the case of degradable sutures used in surgery, differing materials have different degradation rates, with materials having longer degradation times generally having increased tensile strength and becoming fully degraded within about 6 months. While such sutures may be suitable for use where increased tensile strength is desired, the decreased degradation time of such a suture may preclude its use for some procedures. Therefore, it may be advantageous to change the degradation profile of a material to provide a surgical suture which exhibits and maintains desired tensile properties but undergoes mass loss at a desired degradation rate.